State Geography Standards:
 Society, diversity, commonality, & the individual
 5-Interdisciplinary learning
 7-Physical Spaces
 8-Places and regions

Introduction:
 From the earliest civilizations, intelligent and curious, mankind has always asked questions, then tried to find the answers in their religions.  I too, have now always known the answer, but I have tried to find it.

Purpose:
 Show one “Families” migrations, and see how they impacted the formation of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the Middle East.

Objectives:  Students will be able to:
1. Locate places that were significant to the Hebrews.
2. Map the pattern of their movement.
3. Show geographic and historical connections of Judaic, Christian, and Islamic religions.

Materials and Preparations:
1. Make transparencies of a world map showing early cultural diffusion routes, & fertile crescent/political map of Middle East.
2. Using information from star ways and Mark Twain Media, Inc., publishers create a map and site list showing major bible sites in the Middle East.
3. Pens, pencils, colored pencils, or markers.
4. Handouts of fertile crescent/Middle East map, early cultural diffusion map, and “world empires impacting bible lands”

Procedures:
1. Go over lesson theme, standards used, and other objectives.
2. Using transparencies, show overview of early cultures and their diffusion routes and briefly review them.  (Handout packet)
3. Hand out Middle East/Fertile Crescent Map.
4. Narrow the focus to the Middle East. Fertile Crescent map transparency, and with a marker draw in the fertile crescent.  Have students do the same.
5. Hand out the site list
6. Using the site list and map lead the class through migratory route, and explain circumstances of people and site changes along the route as they went.
7. Finally and very briefly bring in Greek and Roman influences.

Extensions:
1. Summarize people involved in creation of major religions and cultural clashes that exist even today as a result.
2. On another copy of the same map, use an atlas to neatly write on the names of current countries shown and/or make a key to color code the countries and mark their capitals as well.
3. Use “The Angel in the East” Poem and have the students color in their maps the show the “religious care” overlooking and protecting the region.

 Site List

1. Eden-near the Tigris/Euphrates river (Genesis 2:8-14)

2. Mount Arat-where Noah’s Ark rested in Turkey

3. Tower of Babel-“Tower to Heaven” built near this city in Iraq (Genesis 11: 8-9)

4. Haran-moved from Ur in Iraq to this city in Turkey.  (Genesis 11:31)

5. Canaan-Abraham moved  from Haran to land now called Israel. (Genesis 12:5)

6. Egypt-a famine drives Jacob, brother to Esau and his family to move from Canaan where Joseph, his son, who had been sold into slavery by his brothers, has become 2nd in power to Pharaoh. (Genesis 46:3-4)

7. Red Sea-After 400 years of slavery, Moses leads the descendants of Jacob out of Egypt to freedom. (Exodus 15:16-22)

8. Mt. Sinai-Three months late, Moses gets the ten commandments/they say about one year. (Exodus 19:1; 20)

9. Kadesh-Barnea-(eleven days across the Sinai) Spies sent out, fearful Israelites refuse the directive to enter Canaan.  They wander in wilderness for forty years.  (Numbers 32: 7-13)

10.   Mt. Nebo-Moses dies, Israel crosses Jordan River to enter Canaan. (Deuteronomy 48-52)
 

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